A chance meeting with actor and television personality Suresh Menon in 2002 became a major turning point in my life. I was 21 when I began hosting a comedy show, Saturday Jam, on a Mumbai radio channel. I didn’t have a clue about who Menon was when he dropped by at the radio station one day and was asked to go live on air with me. That radio link completely turned things around.

Menon, who is also a voice-over artist, mimicked everyone from Sachin Tendulkar to Amitabh Bachchan. He even cooked up the hilarious character, Dr Honey Balkar — a fashion designer who is also a plumber. It was a rip-roaring riot. Our timing was perfect and the show fabulous. He was hired after that and we’ve been doing shows together ever since. Teaming up with Menon took Saturday Jam to a completely different level, where we spoke about life around town that people could relate to. I think that’s what got me noticed and eventually led to the veejaying offer. We still do Saturday Jam, which is now called Comedy No.1, and the Mental Show.

The other turn in the road came in 2008, when I decided to become a VJ. I’d shifted to the programming department of the radio channel and would occasionally meet the MTV management since we did promotions for them. One day, they asked me if I’d like to jockey for the channel. They had heard me on radio, liked my work, and felt I fit the bill. But it was more than a year before I decided to take the plunge. Becoming a VJ turned out to be the best decision I’ve made.

(As told to Shreya Shukla)